Love for Ohangla earns woman a beating

By Kevin Kadipo

A man beat his wife senseless recently when he discovered that she had left their three-month-old baby at home, unattended, to attend a dance in a nearby club in Nyangweso village, Homa-Bay District.

The man had travelled from Nairobi overnight when he found the door locked from outside and the baby crying inside the house.

Overcome with anger, he broke the door to find the baby hungry and tired from crying. For a moment he did not know what to do.

Unknown to him, his 26-year-old wife, popularly known as Nya Uyoma (the girl from Uyoma) had heard that the Ohangla maestro, Osogo Winyo, was in town and had vowed not to miss the treat.

She had prepared her supper early and breastfed her baby to his fill before leaving.

"My husband is in Nairobi and won’t be coming back any time soon, so just come and pick me up at nine," she told a neighbour. Then she left for the dance with a neighbour friend.

Little did she know that trouble would be waiting for her when she returned. When she entered the house, her husband began beating her with his fists and anything in sight.

Anger

"How could you leave my three-month-old baby alone in the house to go to a disco? Is the musician the one who married you?" he shouted as neighbours gathered to witness the unfolding drama.

It took the intervention of the man’s brothers to put a stop to the beating.

"You daughter of a prostitute, how dare you do such evil after giving you all that you wanted," he yelled.

Her tears could not soften the man’s heart, if anything they made him more furious.

At her hour of need everyone deserted the woman, even the friend with whom she had gone with to the dance.

In fact the friend, who was also being sought by the man’s relatives, was nowhere to be seen.

A village elder was quickly summoned to calm the commotion and help resolve the matter amicably.

Even after the elder managed to cool down tempers, the husband demanded that the woman leave his compound.

The still fuming man began packing the woman’s belongings and throwing them out all the while shouting obscenities at her.

"Dhi inyis meru gik ma itimo gi momiyo ariembi, diel, (Go and tell your mother why I sent you packing, you goat)," he shouted.

Widespread

It is said that Nya Uyoma was only one of the many women who abandoned their homes to attend the dance. Homa Bay is one of the areas where Osogo Winyo enjoys a near fanatical following.

It is whispered along the paths of Nyangweso village that it was not only at her home where tears were shed that morning. Similar scenes were witnessed in at least three other homesteads.